Term | Definition |
complementary base pairing | the specific arrangement of bases in nucleotides (adenine with thymine, cytosine with guanine) |
DNA Helicase | an enzyme that unwinds the double helix of DNA |
DNA Polymerase | an enzyme that assembles the nucleotides on the DNA strands |
recombinant DNA | the combination of two or more different sources of DNA put together artificially |
replication | duplicating the strands of DNA |
semi conservative replication | creating two new strands of DNA which both have a strand from the original DNA |
anti codon | a sequence of three bases located on tRNA which complement three other bases on mRNA |
codon | a sequence of three bases located on mRNA that correspond to a specific amino acid attached to tRNA |
DNA sequence (genetic code) | the specific order of bases in DNA |
elongation | a step in translation where the tRNA brings in amino acids and forms a polypeptide chain |
environmental mutagen | induces a mutation (radiation, virus, chemicals etc) |
genetic disorder | a disorder that has been inherited through your genes (Huntington disease, Marfan syndrome) |
initiation | the starting codon on the mRNA that begins the process of translation |
messenger RNA (mRNA) | carries the blueprint for the structure of the protein that will be made, made from copying DNA |
mutation | changing the structure of the gene sequence in your DNA, caused by one single alteration |
termination | the stop codon on the mRNA that tells the protein to end |
transcription | the process of making RNA strands from copying the information from the DNA strands |
transfer RNA (tRNA) | in the cytoplasm where they bring the correct amino acid to the ribosome for translation to occur |
translation | the process where polypeptide chains are made with the aid of the ribosome, mRNA and tRNA |